Above Average
Summary
Devotion may not be packed with action but there are enough battle scenes in the second half to keep action junkies happy. It also has first rate performances and a moving story to be worth checking out.
Plot: A pair of U.S. Navy fighter pilots risk their lives during the Korean War and become some of the Navy’s most celebrated wingmen.
Review: I’m not even sure I would class Devotion as an action picture as it is more of a character piece for the first half but we do get some intense battle scenes later on in the film.
Jonathan Majors’ star continues to rise with this, Quantumania and Creed III coming soon. In Devotion he plays Jesse Brown, an aviator who has to deal with racism while also trying to fight for his country during the Korean War. He befriends newcomer Tom Hudner (Glen Powell) and the film is based around their exploits. At first I thought Hudner was just going to be a similar character to Hangman from Top Gun: Maverick but he is far more sympathetic and the men’s friendship is anything but straightforward.
Both actors are at the top of their game here with some of the toughest moments featuring Jesse looking into the mirror and repeating some of the mean things that have been said to him over the years. His relationship with his wife Daisy (Christina Jackson) gives the film most of its heart and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tear up a little by the end.
Inspired by a true story Devotion may not be packed with action but I still enjoyed every moment purely due to the characters and there are some nice moments of humour too. In terms of set-pieces we get a bar fight and then a few aerial dogfights and the visuals are impressive where I can barely tell what’s CG and what isn’t. Admittedly they never quite reach the heights of Maverick but they’re still well done.
Overall, Devotion isn’t exactly packed with action but it has an engaging story and appealing characters while also demonstrating the horrors of war; it’s too bad this didn’t make much of an impact at the box office as it’s solidly directed with decent performances from the entire cast.
